Estimating with a Mac?

I am a lifelong Mac junkie... They never crash, they never get a virus and the tools are amazing.

Apple just had a record year with profit. As sales of the iphone and iPod touch rocket so do Mac laptops and iMac units sold. Our Best Buy here just became a dealer and sold out of all their Mac units for Christmas. More and more people around me are switching to Mac everyday. Next month Apple is expected to announce the release of the Mac tablet rumored to be called the iSlate. It seems the Mac to PC tide is turning.

Here is my question for Audatex, Mitchell and CCC. When will I be able to use my Mac for estimating?

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It is true that the Mac is an excellent machine, but don't kid yourself the Mac is not invulnerable to either viruses or software problems. The Mac has been resistant to viruses mostly because there numbers in the marketplace and particularly in the business marketplace have made them unattractive to the producers of malware. As their numbers grow this will most likely change. The Mac runs on an underlying UNIX operating system (O/S) which is as vulnerable as any other O/S. Although I have not tried it, most Windows programs will run on a Mac using "parallels" the Apple Virtual Windows machine. If anyone has tried running any of the collision programs this way I would love to hear their experience with the attempt. Be assured that it will not be supported by the current information providers. It would be just be too much for their technical support departments to handle.

It would be nice to see one of the three start to explore the Mac. Mac users are fiercely loyal could be a could market for someone to enter.

I envision a Mac based estimating platform that syncs with my iPhone (iphone app). I dock the phone for the Admin, Vin decode and highlight the damaged panels (similar to Audatex fold out car view). Then all I take with me to the car is the iPhone. It's my camera, my estimating tablet and my internet connection. It gives me the repair data I need based on the highlighted damaged panels (areas).

With the ability to run apps and talk on the phone, it would do it all :-) With all the advancement in mobile applications we are still glued to a P/C trying to write estimates, same as we were glued to the books years back. Also, a functional On Demand App would allow you to write and estimate on the fly. For a shop, while at the grocery store you could complete an initial estimate and hand them a card.... right place and right time estimating.

I'd also like a jet pack with GPS for adjusters to get to claims faster :-).. Happy New Year Robert!

I agree with Mr. Anders that Apple products are not immune to malware, but that as approximately 5-9% of the market they are less frequently targeted. I think they do attain some benefit from their roots in Unix and its initial design as a multi-user operating system.

You could use that Parallels option ( I think) to run the applications locally, i.e. on your computer. You might have some luck with VMware as well. Both of these options would shift much of the burden of support to yourself. I think the third (and in my opinion, best) option would be to access the programs via the web, perhaps provided by a cellular service provider when on the road. This option will require the software manufacturers to adjust their software to enable such web access, but it does seem to be a trend that many industries are following. Google Docs, Microsoft Live, etc. are examples.

Jet packs on the other hand will not likely be cost-effective for quite some time:) but would be very amusing.